Survivor: Tocantins, Episode 9 Recap

Coach is a buffoon. I suppose this was the episode when the scales tipped a little though, and instead of loving to hate him, I actually started to get annoyed by him. The problem was that, while I was all set to root for Brendan, whom I think is nice if boring, but then he said something like "If I can get JT to win then it will feel like I won." Uh, what? I'm suddenly getting mad at the camera crew for never capturing JT on film working his voodoo magic that makes everyone around him fall madly in love with him. I mean, he seems nice and all, but it isn't like he is Susan Boyle or something. So then I'm stuck rooting for Brendan as the anti-Coach, but not because I specifically want Brendan to stay either. I think this show has gotten too soft on the quitters, if I were Jeff I'd throw Brendan's torch down after a comment like that.

I still think Coach and all his shenanigans are funny, but I just can't ignore the arrogance any longer. His tall tale about almost getting eaten in the Amazon was, well, I don't know what it was. Maybe he is just the worst story-teller in the world. Or maybe he is like Cartman and with an extra-size ego actually believes his schtick. Also, I want to give him a boot to the head every time he calls himself a dragonslayer. Peter MacNicol made a better dragonslayer than he does. Seriously.

Anyway, thanks to the editing, I was sure Coach was leaving, just for the satisfaction of it all. And I'm still ticked off that he didn't, because that is the way Hollywood is supposed to work, with me getting satisfaction watching villains getting their deserved due. Now we'll have to endure him gloating, which is so terrible that I'm actually feeling sorry for Sierra. Sierra!

My only solace was the realization, afterwards, that JT had just, in fact, won the game. We'll see what they say next week, but going into the vote I figured it was much smarter for Taj, Stephen and JT to stick with Brendan and Sierra, because in the end they would be three against two and could do what they wanted. (Or four against two if they kept Erinn, which they could do easily.) But now I'm thinking, the got rid of Brendan because it was easy to do. But now that they've split up the other team, they are totally in control, whatever Coach might think. They could string Coach along and vote out Sierra next week if they wanted to, and still have the numbers to vote out Coach and Tyson next. And I see no reason why they won't. For someone who was in imminent danger for so long, Erinn sure has done well for herself.

I loved the rope challenge, almost as much as I loved Coach not winning the rafting challenge. I also love winners, and Tyson is making an impression.

I will forever wish Brendan had outwitted Coach, rather than the other way around. And why didn't Brendan, when he stood up to leave, just hand the idol to Sierra? That would have been awesome, and would have saved her for at least one week.